125  I£ast  STRcnr 


Medical  Mission  Senes 


HOSPITALS  IN  KOREA 


Bridge  Near  Pyeng  Yang. 

From  Woman’s  Work. 

Price,  3 cents;  30  cents  a dozen. 

The  Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church 
501  Witherspoon  Building,  Philadelphia 


MEDICAL  WORK  IN  KOREA. 

1911-1912. 


SEOUL. — Severance  Hospital;  Dispensaries;  Union  Medical 
School;  Training  School  for  Nurses. 

O.  R.  Avison,  M.  D.  ; J.  W.  Hirst,  M.  D.;  R.  K.  Smith, 
M.  D. ; Alfred  J.  Ludlow,  M.  D. 

Miss  Helen  Forsythe,  Superintendent  of  Nurses;  Miss  E.  L. 
Shields,  Associate  Superintendent  of  Nurses. 

FUSAN-MILYANG. — Jiinkin  Memorial  Hospital;  Mary  C. 
Whiting  Dispensary. 

Ralph  G.  Mills,  M.  D. 

TAIKU. — Hospital ; Dispensary. 

A.  G.  Fletcher,  M.  D.  ; Miss  Ethel  McGee,  Nurse. 

CHUNG-JU. — Duncan  Memorial  Hospital. 

Walter  C.  Purviance,  M.  D. 

CHAI  RYUNG. — Hospital ; Dispensary. 

Rev.  H.  C.  Whiting,  M.  D. 

PYENG  YANG. — Caroline  A.  Ladd  Hospital ; Dispensary. 

J.  H.  Wells,  M.  D.  ; Mrs.  S.  A.  Moffett,  M.  D. 

SYEN  CHYUN. — Hospital;  Dispensary;  Medical  itineration. 

A.  M.  Sharrocks,  M.  D. 

KANG  KAI. — Kennedy  Hospital. 

John  D.  Bigger,  M.  D. 

ANDONG. — Dispensary. 

R.  K.  Smith,  M.  D.  funder  appointment;  now  an  interne  in 
Severance  Hospital,  Seoul). 

STATISTICS. 


Hospitals  8 

Dispensaries 9 

Physicians  I2 

Patients  treated  in  igii 76,981 


We  are  indebted  to  Rev.  H.  C.  M’hiting,  M.  D.,  and  Rev. 
Walter  C.  Erdman  for  their  kind  assistance  in  preparing  this 
pamphlet. 


Hospitals  in  Korea 


Heal  the  sick  that  are  therein,  and  say  unto  them,  "The 
kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you!”  Luke  x:  p. 


HERE  is  no  land  where  the  need  for  medical  work 
is  more  visible  and  urgent  than  in  Korea.  The 
necessities  and  sufferings  of  the  unhappy  people 
are  so  pitiful  that  no  Christian  heart  can  resist 
them.  Their  lives  are  dominated  by  the  dread  of 
malignant  .spirits,  who  wield  the  power  of  life  and 
death.  The  air  is  often  polluted  by  the  corpses  of  the  dead, 
lying  unburied  until  the  soothsayers  shall  appoint  a propitious 
time  and  place  for  burial.  Every  imaginable  unhygienic  and 
unsanitary  practice  is  common.  Except  in  the  largest  cities, 
sewers  and  drains  are  unknown ; disease  lurks  in  every  well 
and  spring.  It  is  no  wonder  that  dysentery,  malarial  fevers, 
and  typhus  are  always  prevalent. 

Small-pox  is  a fearful  scourge ; the  patients  are  usually 
children,  for  ever}'  adult  Korean  has  had  it  at  least  once. 
They  take  no  precautions  against  it,  and  use  no  remedies, 
because  they  think  it  is  sent  by  a special  deity,  who  must 
be  propitiated  by  prayers  and  offerings.  The  death  rate 
among  children  from  small-pox  alone  was  formerly  sufficient 
to  offset  any  increase  of  population.  Since  the  foreigners 
have  come,  the  people  are  learning  the  benefits  of  vaccination, 
and  in  most  places  are  glad  to  resort  to  it.  In  towns,  it  is 
now  made  compulsory  for  children. 

Epidemics  of  cholera  occur  constantly.  The  people  think 
it  is  caused  by  rats  climbing  about  in  the  body,  and  paste 
a hideous  picture  of  a cat  over  the  doorway  to  keep  the  rats 
away.  Or  cords  are  stretched  across  the  streets,  bearing 
papers  inscribed  with  prayers  or  threats  against  the  evil 
spirits.  Devil-posts  with  grinning  teeth  are  planted  at  the 
corners,  with  the  inscription,  “This  is  the  general  who  is 
after  the  cholera  devils.”  The  rigid  measures  against  infec- 
tion employed  by  the  Japanese  Government  since  the  annexa- 

3 


tion  have  been  remarkably  successful  in  preventing  the  spread 
of  both  cholera  and  plague,  and  in  enforcing  some  degree  of 
sanitary  precautions. 

The  worst  sufferings  are  caused  by  the  ignorant  practices 
of  native  physicians.  Their  theory  is  that  disease  is  caused 
by  winds  or  spirits  inhabiting  the  organs  of  the  body,  and 
their  system  of  treatment  is  designed  to  let  the  spirits  out. 
This  is  accomplished  either  by  puncture  with  their  broad 
steel  needles,  which  are  thrust  recklessly  into  any  part  of 
the  body,  not  excepting  the  eyes,  or  else  by  burning  with 
hot  coals  or  punk.  Horrible  sores  and  wounds  follow  these 
tortures,  with  infection  from  the  unsterilized  needles. 

■ The  popular  drug  is  ginseng,  which  is  considered  a specific 
for  all  ailments.  A concoction  of  snakes,  toads  and  centi- 
pedes, skillfully  mingled,  has  signal  virtue,  and  tiger-bone 
pills  are  supposed  to  inspire  the  patient  with  the  strength 
and  courage  of  the  animal. 

The  changes  in  Korea  have  been  so  rapid  and  marvellous 
that  it  seems  incredible  that  only  a little  over  twenty-five 
years  ago  it  was  still  the  Hermit  Kingdom,  into  which  for- 
eigners penetrated  only  at  the  risk  of  their  lives.  The  de- 
mand for  Christian  teaching  is  now  so  urgent  that  everything 
else  has  to  give  way  to  that;  but  for  the  first  ten  years  of 
the  mission  it  was  only  the  prestige  of  the  medical  work 
that  made  it  possible  for  any  teaching  to  be  done.  When 
the  first  missionary.  Dr.  H.  H.  Allen,  afterward  United 
States  Minister  to  Korea,  went  to  Seoul  in  1884,  his  safety 
was  secured  bv  an  appointment  as  physician  to  the  United 
States  Legation.  In  a political  disturbance  soon  after,  a 
member  of  the  royal  family  was  wounded,  and  recovered 
under  Dr.  .Allen’s  treatment.  This  gained  for  him  the  favor 
of  the  king,  who  appointed  him  court  physician  and  head  of 
the  Royal  Korean  Hospital,  built  under  his  supervision.  Dr. 
John  Heron  (1885-1890)  afterward  held  these  positions.  Miss 
Ellers,  M.  D.  (Mrs.  Bunker),  who  went  out  in  1886,  was 
made  physician  to  the  queen,  and  put  in  charge  of  the 
women’s  ward  of  the  hospital.  It  is  said  that  one  of  the 
queen’s  Korean  doctors,  who,  of  course,  were  never  allowed 
to  see  her,  felt  her  pulse  by  using  a cord,  one  end  of  whicb 
was  tied  around  her  majesty’s  wrist,  and  the  other  end  held 
by  the  doctor  in  the  next  room.  The  royal  tongue  had  to  be 
protruded  through  a slit  in  the  screen  for  the  necessary 
inspection. 


4 


On  Miss  Ellers’  marriage,  her  place  was  taken  by  Dr. 
Lilian  S.  Horton  CMrs.  M.  G.  Underwood),  who  remained 
the  trusted  physician  and  friend  of  the  unfortunate  queen 
until  1895,  when  the  political  disturbances  culminated  in  the 
queen’s  assassination. 

Dr.  C.  C.  Vinton,  and  afterward  Dr.  Avison,  were  added 
to  the  medical  staff  in  Seoul  after  Dr.  Heron’s  lamented 
death.  A nurses’  home  was  built  by  the  Presbyterian  Society 
of  Utica,  N.  Y..  in  memory  of  l\Tiss  Jacobson,  the  first  trained 
nurse  sent  to  Korea,  who  died  of  malarial  fever  after  two 
years  of  devoted  service. 

It  was  the  custom  among  wealthy  Koreans  to  turn  any 
dependent  afflicted  with  an  infectious  disease  at  once  into 
the  street,  and  it  was  a common  thing  to  find  poor  creatures 
lying  by  the  roadside  in  all  weathers,  in  every  stage  of  suf- 
fering. Mrs.  Underwood  was  enabled  by  private  gifts  to 
open  a little  hospital  for  these  sufferers,  known  as  the 
“Shelter,”  to  which  any  one  might  send  infectious  cases.  A 
little  dispensary,  given  by  Mrs.  Hugh  O’Neill,  of  New  York, 
was  opened  near  by,  where  religious  services  were  held. 

About  this  time  the  handful  of  Christian  Koreans  in  Seoul 
were  organized  into  a church,  and  were  valiantly  trying  from 
their  scanty  means  to  raise  money  for  a church  building. 

In  that  summer  (1895)  cholera  broke  out  with  unusual 
virulence.  The  government  made  an  attempt  to  establish 
quarantine  and  sanitary  regulations,  and  open  emergency 
hospitals,  but  the  greed  and  corruption  of  the  native 
officials  thwarted  all  efforts.  Dr.  Avison  was  chosen  sani- 
tary director,  and  the  whole  burden  practically  fell  on  the 
American  missionaries.  An  old  building  was  hastily  fitted 
Tip,  and  a corps  of  nurses  and  doctors  formed  from  the 
missionary  ranks.  As  the  plague  increased,  it  was  de- 
cided to  fill  the  “Shelter”  with  cholera  patients,  under 
the  care  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Wells  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Underwood. 
A number  of  Christian  Koreans  volunteered  for  the  love  of 
Christ  to  nurse  the  sufferers.  Every  evening  a service  of 
prayer  was  held  in  the  central  court,  where  the  workers 
gained  new  faith  and  strength  for  their  arduous  task.  Two- 
thirds  of  the  patients  here  recovered,  and  only  one-third 
in  the  general  hospital.  People  who  watched  the  mission- 
aries working  over  the  sick  night  after  night,  said  to  each 
other : “How  those  foreigners  love  us ! Would  we  do  as 
much  for  our  own  kin  as  they  do  for  strangers?”  Some 

5 


men  who  saw  Dr.  Underwood  hurrying  along  the  road  in 
the  gray  dawn,  remarked:  “There  goes  the  Jesus  man;  he 
works  all  night  and  all  day  with  the  sick  without  resting.” 
“Why  does  he  do  it?”  said  another.  “Because  he  loves  us,” 
was  the  reply. 

After  the  disease  was  checked,  the  government  sent 
valuable  gifts  to  the  foreigners  who  had  assisted  in  the 
hospitals,  and  insisted  on  paying  the  Korean  Christians  for 
their  labor  of  love  Almost  every  one  of  them  gave  the 
money  at  once  to  the  fund  for  the  new  church,  considering 
it  a special  gift  from  God  in  answer  to  their  prayers. 

The  year  1912  shows  nine  mission  stations  in  Korea,  each 
with  its  dispensary  and  a hospital  completed  or  in  progress. 
In  most  of  these  centres,  the  Japanese  Government  has 
opened  charity  hospitals,  showing  that  the  need  for  medical 
help  is  recognized.  Rut  so  far  these  have  not  lessened  the 
influence  of  the  mission  hospitals,  or  diminished  the  attend- 
ance. 

One  of  the  most  notable  contributions  to  Christian  advance- 
ment made  b}'  our  med'cal  workers  is  the  series  of  scientific 
text-books  which  they  have  written  or  translated. 

SEOUL. — At  the  capital,  it  was  early  found  desirable  to 
establish  an  independent  hospital,  free  from  government  con- 
trol. Funds  were  given  by  Mr.  L.  H.  Severance,  of  Cleve- 
land, Ohio.  .After  prolonged  difficulties,  a suitable  site  was 
secured,  and  the  building  was  dedicated  in  September,  IQ05. 
Besides  superintending  the  hospital.  Dr.  .Avison  and  Dr.  Hirst 
attend  the  whole  foreign  community  and  the  Korean  Chris- 
tians, and  are  frequently  called  to  outside  towns.  Over 
14,000  cases  were  treated  in  1911.  Almost  the  whole  work 
of  the  public  dispensary  is  now  entrusted  to  one  of  the  Ko- 
rean graduate  physicians. 

An  evangelist  and  a Bible  woman  are  employed  to  work 
among  the  patients  and  the  friends  who  accompany  them. 

Young  men  have  received  medical  training  in  this  hospital 
from  the  beginning,  and  the  class  has  now  developed  into  a 
Medical  College,  to  which  all  the  Protestant  missions  in  Korea 
can  send  their  students.  The  buildings,  provided  and  equipped 
by  Mr.  Severance,  will  contain,  when  complete,  departments 
of  dentistry,  pathology  and  nharmacy,  each  under  competent 
direction  ; a well  equipped  dispensary,  lecture  rooms,  labora- 
tories, operating  rooms  and  modern  apparatus.  The  Korean 


Medical  Mission  Association,  representing  all  the  Mission 
Boards,  will  co-operate  with  the  college  faculty.  It  is  hoped 
that  each  Board  will  assist  in  the  support,  and  that  an  en- 
dowment frnd  may  in  time  be  secured.  The  present  teaching- 
staff  comprises  Drs.  Avison,  Hirst  and  Mills,  of  our  own 
Board,  two  physicians  from  other  missions,  and  three  Korean 
graduates  of  the  institution.  Other  missionary  physicians  will 
assist  with  lectures. 

Dr.  Avison  says : 

“The  course  of  study  contemplates  four  years’  work  in  the  college, 
and  one  year  of  practical  work  under  a foreign  physician,  before  the 
full  doctor’s  degree  is  conferred.  The  students  are  all  Christians, 
attending  daily  prayers  and  th?  church  on  the  campus.  We  hope  ulti- 
mately to  care  for  one  hundred  students,  and  send  them  back  when 
their  course  is  completed  to  build  up  the  church  in  their  own  districts.” 

Last  year  there  were  fiftj--seven  students,  of  whom  six  were 
graduated  in  June,  iqit.  The  Governor-General,  Count 
Terauchi,  presented  the  diplomas;  and  Dr.  Fujiji,  of  the 
National  Hospital,  made  an  address.  This  shows  the  official 
standing  of  the  college. 

A Training  School  for  Nurses  has  graduated  so  far  six 
Korean  women.  One,  the  sister  of  Esther  Kim  Pak,  M.  D., 
the  first  Korean  woman  to  take  a medical  degree,  is  now 
assistant  superintendent  of  the  hospital,  and  two  others  are 
superintending  hospitals  in  other  places,  “Korean  women 
with  their  quiet  ways  and  gentle  natures,  should  make  ideal 
trained  nurses.” 


PYENG  YANG. — This  ancient  capital  is  the  centre  of  Chris- 
tian work  in  North  Korea.  The  medical  work  here,  under 
Dr.  J.  H.  Wells  has  been  most  efficient.  The  hospital 

has  a fine  building,  given  bv  the  late  IMrs.  Ladd,  of  Portland, 
Oregon.  Some  wards  are  fitted  up  in  foreign  style,  others 
are  purely  Korean,  with  the  usual  hot  floors. 

Dr.  Wells  says : 

“We  find  it  best  to  allow  relatives,  in  certain  cases,  to  stay  with 

the  patients The  changing  crowd  at  morning  prayers,  the  halt, 

the  blind,  wistful  children  and  mourning  mothers,  humanity  in  wreck 
and  ruin,  is  a daily  sight  to  stir  one’s  deepest  emotions.  This  is  the 
only  agency  of  the  station  which  constantly  sees  so  many  unconverted 
persons.  Having  decided  in  some  distant  village  to  come  to  the  ‘Jesus 
Doctrine  Hospital,’  they  are  ready  for  any  surgical  measure  necessary, 
often  begging  to  be  cut  open  and  have  the  disease  taken  out.  and 
are  also  ready  and  anxious  to  listen  to  ‘the  Doctrine.’  The  generous 

7 


WAITING  ROOM,  I.ADD  HOSPITAL,  PYENG  YANG. 

promise  from  Mr.  W.  M.  Ladd  of  $250  a year  for  charity  patients 
will  be  of  great  assistance  to  us.” 

During  the  recent  outbreak  of  cholera,  this  hospital  was 
designated  as  an  official  pest-house,  and  inspected  daily  by 
government  medical  officers.  This  helped  greatly  to  allay 
the  panic  among  the  Christians.  It  is  at  times  utilized  as  a 
government  vaccination  station.  More  than  1,000  patients 
sometimes  come  in  one  day. 

FUSAN,  at  the  southern  end  of  the  peninsula,  is  the  port 
for  Japan,  and  has  become  of  great  importance.  A railroad 
connects  it  with  Seoul  and  Eui-Ju,  where  it  joins  the  South- 
ern Manchurian  Railroad  to  Moukden,  and  will  in  tirne  con- 
nect with  the  Russian  line  across  Siberia.  The  Junkin  Me- 
morial Hospital,  long  under  the  care  of  Dr.  C.  H.  Irvin 


{1893-191 1 )>  tlie  Mary  Collins  Whiting  Dispensary,  care 
for  an  unending  stream  of  suffering  people,  seeking  relief 
from  afflictions  of  all  sorts.  A capable  evangelist  instructs 
all  who  come. 

Mr.  Kim  Keui  Won,  a patient  at  this  hospital,  where  he 
heard  the  Gospel  for  the  first  time,  became  the  first  Christian 
in  the  province  of  North  Kyueng  Sang,  and  later  the  first 
ordained  elder  in  South  Korea.  He  is  now  studying  at  the 
Theological  Seminary. 


SURGICAL  PATIENTS,  FUSAN  HOSPITAL. 

A Leper  Asylum,  supported  by  the  Edinburgh  Society,  is 
largely  superintended  by  our  Mission.  The  inmates  average 
about  forty,  though  for  lack  of  funds  only  the  most  needy 
cases  can  be  admitted.  Regular  religious  services  are  held 
by  a Korean  Christian.  Tn  a nearby  village  the  people  were 
led  to  inquire  into  “the  Doctrine”  by  observing  the  kindness 
shown  to  the  lepers,  with  the  result  that  there  is  now  a new 
group  of  believers  there. 


9 


TAIKU. — One  hundred  miles  north  of  Fusan,  by  railroad, 
is  Taiku,  an  old  town,  now  the  third  city  of  the  peninsula. 
Medical  work  was  begun  here  in  i8g8  hy  Dr.  W.  O.  Johnson, 
and  a small  hospital  built,  which  was  afterward  destroyed  by 
a cyclone.  It  has  been  replaced,  through  the  generosity  of 
the  same  giver,  by  a tine  lirick  building,  with  a picturesque 
tile  roof,  standing  on  a hillside  overlooking  the  crowded 
market-place.  It  will  accommodate  about  twenty  patients,  the 
low'er  floor  being  for  men,  the  upper  for  women.  A new 
dispensary  building  is  greatly  needed.  Continued  illness  has 
compelled  Dr.  Johnson  to  give  up  the  responsibility  of  the 
hospitality  and  take  evangelistic  w'ork  instead. 

At  the  time  of  annexation,  the  Government  Hospital  here 
gave  free  treatment  as  a pacifying  measure,  and  while  this 
w'as  continued  it  made  a large  inroad  upon  the  number  of 
patients  coming  to  the  Mission  Hospital.  The  tide  is  turning 
again,  however,  and  many  seem  to  prefer  treatment  at  the 
Christian  institution,  even  though  in  some  instances  it  costs 
more. 

Every  Sunday  in  Taiku  Church  an  elder  reads  off  the 
names  of  six  workers  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation. 
These  six  conduct  the  evangelistic  work  of  the  hospital  dur- 
ing the  ensuing  six  days.  The  plan  has  given  excellent  re- 
sults. Their  earnest  words  to  the  waiting  patients  make  the 
additional  word  and  tract  received  from  the  doctor  in  the 
consultation  room  the  more  effective. 

SYEN  CHYUN. — “Syen  Chyun”  means  “flowdng  stream,”  from 
the  stream  of  fresh  pure  water  fed  hy  mountain  brooks  which 
flows  right  through  the  centre  of  the  village.  It  might  well 
take  the  name  from  the  stream  of  blessings,  spiritual  and 
physical,  which  flow  from  the  two  large  Christian  churches, 
the  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  and  the  dispensary  and  hos- 
pital. 

Medical  work  in  this  northern  station  w'as  begun  by  Dr. 
Sharrocks  in  IQOI,  and  increased  amid  the  horrors  of  cholera 
and  war.  A dispensary  was  built  in  1905,  and  a hospital 
building  added  shortly  afterward.  Twenty-five  medical  stu- 
dents are  under  instruction,  and  more  than  10,000  patients 
come  each  year  to  the  hospital. 

CHAI  RYUNG. — This  station  in  Whang  Hoi  Province,  fifty 
miles  south  of  Pyeng  Yang,  was  opened  in  1905,  and  its  rapid 


growth  is  largel}'  due  to  the  medical  work  of  Rev.  H.  C. 
W hiting,  M.  D. 

“When  the  people  heard  that  the  foreigners  had  fitted  up  part  of 
the  property  they  had  bought  as  a Chay  Chung  Won,  or  ‘house  of 
all  diseases,’  they  began  to  come.  Day  after  day  patients  grew  more 
numerous,  and  all  who  went  away  told  the  same  story.  The  foreign 
doctor  would  treat  you  whether  you  had  money  or  not,  whether  you 
were  a Christian  or  not;  and  he  was  doing  it  all  because  he  had  a 
loving  mind  toward  Koreans,  and  wanted  them  to  know  and  do  the 
Jesus  doctrine.” 

The  first  little  dispensary  is  now  replaced  by  a cottage  hos- 
pital, given  by  the  ^ladison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Churcb,  New 
York.  Tbe  students  trained  by  Dr.  W’biting  are  now  suf- 
ficiently advanced  to  be  of  great  assistance  in  the  hospital 
work.  There  is  no  more  thorou.ghly  devoted  worker  on  the 
field  than  Dr.  W'hiting,  and  no  patient  leaves  the  institution 
without  thorough  instruction  in  the  Gospel  message.  These 
persons  are  carefully  followed  up,  and  many  are  brought  to 
the  Great  Physician  of  their  souls. 

One  of  Dr,  Sharrock’s  graduates,  Dr.  Chyu,  is  carrying  on 
the  hospital  work  in  Dr.  W^hiting’s  absence. 

CHUNG- JU. — Fifty  miles  south  of  Seoul  is  Chung- Ju,  occu- 
pied in  1007.  Medical  work  at  this  station  was  started  by 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  IM.  AI.  Null,  who  were  soon  forced  by  ill  health 
to  return  to  America.  At  present  tbe  Duncan  Memorial  Hos- 
pital here  is  in  charge  of  Dr.  W.  C.  Purviance,  assisted  by 
a Korean  nurse  from  tbe  Nurses’  Training  School  at  Seoul. 
In  seven  months  after  this  hospital  was  opened,  2,570  patients 
were  treated. 

The  hospital  is  a great  agency  in  spreading  the  Gospel  in 
this  relatively  new  field.  Patients  come  from  one  hundred 
miles  awa}’,  many  of  them  from  isolated  villages,  quite  un- 
touched by  Christianity. 

KANG  KAI. — This  new  station,  opened  in  1909,  among  tbe 
northern  hills,  is  two  hundred  miles  from  the  railroad,  and 
the  climate  is  very  severe.  The  hospital,  given  by  the  late 
Mr.  John  S.  Kennedy,  was  opened  in  February,  191T.  by  Dr. 
R.  G.  IMills.  In  a part  of  the  country  far  removed  from  the 
new  civilization  rapidlv  entering  Korea,  the  treatment  and 
cures  effected  at  this  Christian  institution  have  had  a marked 
influence  upon  the  people  of  the  district.  Since  Dr.  Mills' 


BOYS  IN  LEPER  HOSPITAL. 

transfer  to  Seoul,  Dr.  John  D.  Bigger  has  been  appointed  to 
Kang  Kai. 

ANDONG. — The  work  here  is  so  recent  that  it  is  not  yet 
fully  organized.  A temporary  hospital  has  been  arranged, 
cared  for  by  the  Taiku  physicians  in  turn,  and  the  patients 
average  several  hundred  each  month.  The  church  members 
take  these  sufferers  on  their  hearts,  coming  every  day  with 
Gospels  and  hymn  books  to  instruct  and  comfort  those  wait- 
ing in  the  guest  room. 

Speaking  of  the  leper  patients.  Dr.  Fletcher  says : 

“On  every  side  are  seen these  *ends  of  human  beings/  There 

is  only  one  small  asylum  in  Korea.  I think  every  hospital  in  Korea 
should  have  its  leper  ward.  This  is  the  only  way,  I believe,  to  ‘cleanse 
the  lepers’  and  thus  relieve  this  terrible  scourge  of  humanity.” 

The  current  expenses  of  these  nine  hospitals  are  nearly 
covered  by  their  receipts.  The  entire  cost  to  the  Board  in 
IQII,  excluding  buildings  and  physician’s  salaries,  was  less 
than  three  thousand  dollars. 


